That Narendra Modi was featured on the cover of Time (March, South Asia edition), around the tenth anniversary of an anti-Muslim massacre in the Indian state of Gujarat, was not surprising. Sparking outrage was the headline (Modi Means Business), which was viewed by many as an extreme image makeover for India's most divisive politician. It was under his watch that an anti-Muslim carnage started on February 28, 2002 and continued unabated for the next three months. The violence was justified as a reaction to events that took place the previous day when 59 Hindu pilgrims, who were returning after paying homage to the site of a destroyed sixteenth century mosque, were killed by a fire that started in a section of their train. To many Hindus, the fire was a deliberate act by a mob of Muslims. To most Muslims, the fire was an accident. Two official commissions (Nanavati and Banerjee) yielded conclusions that favored one narrative over the other, leading detractors to charge that the commissions were politically tainted.

What is incontrovertible is that within hours of the tragic train fire, an organized retaliation against Muslims spread across Gujarat like wildfire. The ferocity of the carnage was unprecedented, even for a country with episodic spates of sectarian violence. By the time the bloodshed had stopped 2,000 people were brutally killed, many mutilated. Women were raped before being burnt alive. Muslims, who make up 9 percent of Gujarat's population, witnessed the entire state security apparatus standing still while vigilantes went on a rampage destroying 5,000 homes, 500 places of worship and 10,000 shops. Over 150,000 Muslims were displaced, with 16,000 remaining so a decade later. An iconic picture of a Muslim man by photographer Arko Datta epitomized the fear that had gripped the state.

Although some of the rioters have been held responsible, the state government under the leadership of Narendra Modi has so far escaped unscathed. Not a single high level official paid the price for their abject failure to maintain law and order. To the contrary, the electorate has repeatedly serenaded Modi with victories at the ballot box. Despite his obvious failures, the United States Congressional Research Service, a bi-partisan think tank whose research is advisory to the U.S. Congress, is speculating that Modi stands on the threshold of becoming India's next leader. Latest polling shows Modi beating both Rahul Gandhi (scion of the famous Nehru family) and current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by double-digit margins.

The battle lines for the 2014 parliamentary elections are being drawn with an extreme image makeover for Modi. Leading the charge is the Washington-based PR giant APCO, which has also serviced other controversial clients such as former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha, Kazakhstan's Nursultan Nazarbayev, and Russia's Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The core narrative in Modi's extreme image makeover is that he is as an economic miracle worker, with a clean anti-corruption record in a country where corruption remains an anathema. The story in Time quotes Modi as saying, "It is not luck. It's a carefully devised process."

But Modi's choreographed routine has several discordant notes to it. Abusaleh Shariff, Chief Economist at the National Council of Applied Economic Research, India's premier research institution, asserts that masking the apparent prosperity of Gujarat are high levels of poverty and great income inequality. Hunger levels in Gujarat are shockingly high, with only three other Indian states faring worse. Economic and social minorities continue to remain marginalized. Poverty rates for Muslims in Gujarat are eight times higher than Hindus. Only 12 percent of Muslims have a bank account and a paltry 2.6 percent are able to secure financial loans. According to data from India's Planning Commission, a whopping 31.8 percent of people in Gujarat are poor, leading many social NGOs to question the veracity of Modi's "Vibrant Gujarat" slogan.

Contrary to the carefully cultivated image of Modi's business acumen lie an inconvenient truth -- other Indian states such as Maharashtra and Delhi outclass Gujarat in drawing foreign direct investments, often by 3 to 5 folds. Modi has reaped the benefit of ruling a state whose people have always been known for their business perspicacity and industriousness. Gujarat's economic growth has generally ranked above India's national average, both before and after Modi. Recently, Modi's image of a clean politician has also taken a hit. Three major scams have come to light. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has charged the Modi government with massive financial irregularities worth 167.07 billion rupees (approximately $3 billion).

Earlier this year, the Gujarat High Court criticized Modi for his inaction in stopping the violence of 2002 and ordered the restoration of the many houses of worship, which were damaged during the carnage. Failure to protect places of worship and shrines, which are invaluable to India's cultural heritage, is a flagrant violation of the Hague Convention of 1954.

All people of conscience, who deeply care about India's secular and pluralistic character, are relentlessly demanding justice and remain doggedly in opposition to any attempts that may give India's most controversial political figure an extreme image makeover. American lawmakers Keith Ellison and Frank Wolf have introduced resolutions condemning Modi and held congressional hearings respectively. The State Department continues to uphold its visa ban on Modi.

Underneath Modi's economic success lay a story of brutality and systematic marginalization of economic and social minorities. To quote Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth, "Here's the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand." The Indian national motto succinctly states, Satyameva Jayate -- Truth Stands Invincible. Nothing less than a major truth and reconciliation effort can set Gujarat free of one of the most shameful episodes in its modern history.

[Parvez Ahmed is an Indian-American who teaches at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.]

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REAL ESTATE IN INDIA

INDIAN HEROES

These are the men and women from among Hindus, Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, Jews, and other traditions that are deeply committed to the idea of One India and one people acknowledging the uniqueness of each one of the Indians.

Their work brings people together, their effort is to restore harmony among Indians unlike some lost souls who are hell bent on pitting one Indian against the other.

Lord Krishna had said, whenever the negative forces become stronger in dividing families and disrupt peace and harmony, he will emerge among them to restore sanity, the same idea is reflected in Quran, that God does not deprive his goodness to anyone and sends a peacemaker to every community and nation. After the founding fathers of the nation, these are our real heroes restoring dharma – the righteousness. Dharma is when people get along, mind their own business, live their lives and let others live theirs. God has created all of us and respects each one of us is the highest form of worship.

I salute them for their work and they come from all walks of life. They see you as an Indian and nothing but an Indian. They believe every human should be free to eat, drink, wear or believe whatever he or she wants in the pursuit of their happiness.

Please share stories of such Indians who have made efforts to build a cohesive India, an India where no Indian lives in apprehension, tension or fear of the other.

INDIAN HEROES - NEW FROM 12/20/17

PATRIOTISM

Two of India’s dangerous trends: Misplaced Patriotism and intolerance towards different points of view.

The real heroes of India are those who relentlessly “criticize” the government because they do not want their government to falter and make decisions that will mess up the social structure of the nation. They keep the government rascals on their toes. After all, they are elected to serve us not the other way around. The real heroes rise the nation for the common good of all.

What do the Chamchas on the other hand do? They wear a false badge of patriotism and to them patriotism is oppression of those who differ, and war mongering. They cannot handle criticism of government, they are yes sir, yes sir I lick your chappals. They bring down the nation by keeping their man at helm in a bubble giving him or her false assurance that everything is alright.

I hope the Prime Minister wises up and invites and honors those who criticize him, they are the real supporters of him by reminding him from falling into the pit. He should welcome all those who criticize. He needs to defend the rights of such heroes. The Indian Citizens on the other hand need to make a conscious effort to support those who criticize the government, BJP or Congress or any one.

The test of a successful civilized nation is when every man and woman of India can breathe, eat, drink, wear and believe whatever the hell she or he wants to believe.

UPRIGHT BUREAUCRATS

These are the public service heroes; officers who go against their political bosses to do the right thing for India, i.e, every Indian. We will be developing the list as we go forward. You can send in your entries to MikeGhouseforIndia@gmail.com

UPRIGHT BUREAUCRATS

ABOUT MIKE GHOUSE

Mike Ghouse is committed to his life mission of building cohesive work places, communities and nations. His work is for the Indians and Americans where each one of the 322 million Americans should feel secure without apprehension or fear of the other.

He is one of the 5 people in the world who is actively pursuing research, activism and teaching the subject of Pluralism. Just Google and find a tremendous amount of work on pluralism in religion, politics, society and culture. Mike defines Pluralism as an attitude of “respecting the otherness of other” and accepting the God-given uniqueness of each one of us.

He is a pluralist, thinker, writer, activist and a speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith, politics, Islam, human rights and foreign policy including India and Israel-Palestine. He is a news maker, interfaith wedding officiant and a community consultant and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.

Dr. Ghouse has appeared in over 300 National TV shows and is a frequent guest with Hannity and Varney shows at Fox News along with others. He has over 1000 hours of Radio Shows of which 700 were dedicated to interfaith and pluralism. Over 3500 articles have been published of which a 1000 were on politics, foreign policy, sports and movies, a 1500 for interfaith and pluralism matters and a 1000 plus on Islam. In addition Mike has conducted workshops on Atheist to Zoroastrian and every one in between.

Mike is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His work is at www.Centerforpluralism.com and www.WorldMuslimCongress.org

Welcome

We are proud of our heritage - a multi-faith, multi-cultural, multi-regional and multi-linguistic society, where we have come to accept and respect every which way people have lived their lives. For over 5000 years, India has been a beacon of pluralism - it has embraced Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Baha’i and Zoroastrianism to include in the array of the indigenous religions; Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. India led the way to the freedom movement, since 1947 every country has been liberated from colonialism. Indian democracy is a shining example to the world, where the people have peacefully transferred the powers. Indians are inherently secular and economically capitalistic. They believe in "live-and-let-live" life style, which is the essence of capitalism.Through the years we have expressed the highest degree of maturity on handling extreme situations; the more divergent opinions we hear, the larger our heart grows, the bigger our embrace would be and we can cushion more differences. Let’s continue to honor the concept that there is always another side to the story, as finding the truth is our own responsibility.I am proud of my heritage and am proud to be an Indian-American. Please join me in the discovery of India on a daily basis, as time permits and share the wealth of knowledge you have on this forum.

DallasIndians@yahoogroups.com is the information exchange center for the Indian community living in the Dallas/ Fort Worth Metroplex. You can join by sending an email to: DallasIndians-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com